Thursday 25 June 2009 - THE NEW RARE BIRD ALERT XR3i PAGER

The new X3 pager from Rare Bird Alert

At 7.00am this morning I found myself queing up outside the local Royal (that word is banned) Mail sorting office in order to take delivery of my brand new X3 pager.  It felt like Christmas Day, very sad I realise but what can I say, I'm just a freak when it comes to new gadgets.

Upon opening the package I was instantly impressed by the look and feel of the sexy little device.  It is a touch transparent on the back so you can see all the little workings that makes the magic happen and the front screen is surrounded by a black rubbery substance reminiscent of Britney Spears in that 'Toxic' pop video.  To be honest there really isn't much difference in size compared to the old RBA pager but it is a touch slimmer and quite lighter.  As I'm just an average bloke I didn't really take any notice of the instruction booklet but after a bit of fiddling about and a quick glance at the 'easy start up' sheet I soon managed to get it going and set up my local channels without any problems at all.

The NEW X3 pager from Rare Bird Alert.  You even get a free picture of a LITTLE SWIFT with it!

Apart from the update in hardware the best touch is without doubt the option of changing your subscriptions whenever you like.  With my Platinum option I get all the usual National News, the MEGA Alert and the Early Bird channels but you also get another few other options thrown in with Breaking Rarities - information regarding all fresh 'BB' rarity arrivals and Rarities Only - forget trawling through endless messages regarding Wawings and Iceland Gulls in the winter, all the juicy stuff is here!  In addition you get another four local channels so if you're embarking on a trip anywhere in Britain you're guaranteed to receive news of every sighting in those specific areas you are visiting.  Another nice addition is the option of changing the alert tone for every channel so you can separate the news aurally of a MEGA alerted WHITE-WINGED LARK at Spurn from a local Osprey over your patch.... all without jumping out of the bath in a blind panic, slipping over and fracturing your cranium.  Other top features include a battery life indicator and a signal strength indicator like you get on mobile phones.  I'm just hoping that it works in those pesky Cornish Valleys, if so RBA may have reached 'birding information perfection'.

For more information please see RARE BIRD ALERT - New X3 Pager Offers!  

RBA Chief Executive Sir Dick of Filby tests the ruggedness of the new X3 pager by bashing it against a cliff.

Please DO NOT try this at home! 

STOP PRESS:  After about a week of use the battery that came with the pager quickly drained.  Therefore in order to save on battery power as well as preventing the increase in undignified trips to Poundland for my cheap alkalines, urgent action needed to be taken.  I turned off the automatic backlight and swapped most of the channels to either 'memory' or 'display'.  Another tip is to turn the pager to 'sleep' whilst you are at work or out for a meal with the missus.  Don't fret though because you can still be notified of any MEGAS or Breaking Rarities if you set those channels to 'urgent'.  Another concern that has been brought up is the changing of the battery.  You need to use the belt clip to remove the battery cover.  To be honest though I never had a problem with this myself but I could imagine that those birders that are resident in Fenland East Anglia may face a few difficulties in removing the cover with their pesky webbed hands.

All in all I am very pleased with the X3 and would recommend the upgrade to anyone.  There are little things that I miss about the old pager like the nostalgic alert sounds...... Dudder der dut der der...... Dudder dudder dut dut dudder dudder derrrrr etc but it's a small price to pay for progress.

Saturday 27 June 2009 - Mr Filby

Wednesday 1 July 2009 - Radde's on St Agnes

Sunday 5 July 2009 - Having fun with Dick!